1. Field of the Invention
The invention relates to a device and process for the protection of a site against lightning strikes.
It is particularly applicable to protection of buildings and sensitive sites such as storage sites, military sites, strategic antenna areas, petrochemical complexes, laboratories, pyrotechnic plants, and nuclear power stations.
2. Discussion of the Background
Protection against lightning strikes usually makes use of two devices that have been known for a long time, namely lightning arresters and a metal meshed cage. The efficiency of the lightning arrester, which channels the electrical discharge of the lightning away from a given point, is debatable. Furthermore, the protection radius of a lightning arrester is usually limited.
This is also the case for the meshed cage which, like a Faraday cage, must fully surround the site to be protected and therefore can only be used for a single building.
Furthermore, it is observed that a meshed cage is used especially to provide protection against electromagnetic aggression which is an indirect effect of a lightning strike.
Document FR-A-2 528 584 also describes a storm detection device. The device described in this document makes use of the difference in the electric field on the ground during fine weather and under stormy conditions to detect and signal when a storm is imminent. However, the device cannot detect a lightning strike or predict its effects.
Documents EP-A-320 358 and JP-A-04 160 799 describe these devices that protect a site against lightning strikes or artificially provoke a discharge.